Manufacturers and designers of personal electronic devices, such as cellular radio telephones, frequently seek to reduce the overall dimensions of such devices while maintaining attractive style characteristics for the devices. One consequence of the reduced size for such devices that include a speaker is that less space may be available for the speaker. Furthermore, a variety of audio signal generation capabilities may be desired in such personal electronic devices including buzzers, voice signal generation and/or music or other higher frequency band signal reproduction and playback.
As the space available for the hardware supporting the audio signal generation capabilities decreases in the personal electronic devices, it may become more difficult to support multiple sound emitting output devices, and the space available for each such device may become smaller. Furthermore, increased functionality in such personal electronic devices may require more of the reduced available space to be utilized for other functionality of the device. The reduction in the size of the audio output devices may also increase the difficulty of providing a desirable loudness level for signals, such as buzzer alert signals.
One way to meet the demand for a reduction in the size of personal electronic devices is to use flat-panel speakers in place of the conventional speakers. Flat-panel speakers vibrate air using a large, thin conductive diaphragm panel, rather than the traditional cone-shaped panel, and, therefore, require less space.
There is also an interest in small antennas that can be utilized as internally mounted antennas for wireless terminals. Planar inverted-F antennas (PIFA's), for example, may be well suited for use within the confines of wireless terminals, particularly wireless terminals undergoing miniaturization with a desire for increasingly larger displays. Typically, conventional PIFA's include a conductive element that is maintained in a spaced apart relationship with a ground plane. Exemplary PIFA's are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,166,694 and 6,353,443, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Conventionally, PIFA configurations have branched structures such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,139, and position the PIFA a suitable distance, typically from about 5–10 mm, from the ground plane to radiate effectively. Kin-Lu Wong, in Planar Antennas for Wireless Communications, Ch. 1; p. 4, (Wiley, January 2003), illustrates some potential radiating top patches for dual-frequency PIFAS. The contents of each of these references are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.
Despite the foregoing, there remains a need for improved and/or alternative speaker and antenna configurations.